1793- Invention of Cotton Gin

Cotton was needed for the fast developing textile mills in the North.

• Cotton became very profitable to grow and came to dominate all aspects of Southern life.

• Increased demand for new land to grown cotton leads to westward expansion and removal of Indians from lands in the Cotton Belt, increased new for more slaves.

BY 1860 COTTON ACCOUNTED FOR ALMOST 60% OF ALL U.S. EXPORTS

SUMMARY- Eli Whitney invented a machine called the cotton gin which made cleaning the seeds from raw cotton 50 times faster than cleaning them by hand.

1820 The Missouri Compromise

The North was generally accepting of the compromise.

The South was accepting of the compromise but did not like any attempt at limiting slavery.

SUMMARY: In 1820, Missouri (part of the Louisiana Purchase lands) petitioned to enter the Union as a slave state. This set off heated debates in Congress because it would upset the balance between slave and free states in the Senate. Henry Clay proposed a compromise in which Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine, which had previously been part of Massachusetts, entered as a free state. This kept the balance in the Senate. In order to avoid further conflict, a line was drawn at 36-30 and forbid any slavery north of this line. The Missouri Compromise temporarily squashed the discussion on slavery.

1830-65 Growth of Abolition Movement

Although most abolitionists were from the North they represented a small but vocal minority. As the movement gathered force, many people in the North began to realize that slavery was wrong for many reasons. The movement led to the formation of new political parties such as the Free Soil Party and later the Republican Party.

The political and social hierarchy of the South was against any attempt abolish or limit slavery as they believed slavery was vital to their economy and their lifestyle.

SUMMARY: The Abolition Movement worked to end slavery in the U.S through a variety of methods including writings, speeches, societies, violence and legislation.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831)

• The repercussions of Nat Turner’s rebellion inspired many in the abolition movement.

• Southern slave owners worst fears had been realized and they acted quickly and severely. In the hysteria that followed, 200 slaves were executed by the courts and white mobs. Turner himself was hanged and his corpse was flayed, beheaded and quartered. States across the South enacted stricter slave codes on teaching slaves to read/write, gathering in groups, white patrols roamed the countryside.

SUMMARY: Nat Turner led a slave revolt from plantation to plantation in Virginia which killed 60 whites. The revolt lasted for several days before being put down. Turner and his followers were executed.

Wilmot Proviso (1846, 1847)

• Some Northerners viewed the war as a land grab to spread slavery and therefore supported this effort. The vote was made on sectional lines rather than by party affiliation.

• Southerners saw the Proviso as another attempt by abolitionists to stop the spread of slavery. Because the vote was on sectional lines they were able to defeat this bill in the Senate.

SUMMARY: Bill introduced twice during the War with Mexico by David Wilmot, a Democratic Congressman from PA. The Wilmot Proviso sought to ban slavery from any new territories which might be gained from winning the war. Both attempts passed the House but failed in the Senate.

Free Soil Party (1848-54)

• The Free Soil Party despite being a one-issue managed to send 2 Senators and 14 Representatives to Congress. Their influence in the debates on issues far out-weighed their numbers. (Similar to the Tea Party of today)

• The Free Soil Party was a northern political party and had no representation in the South. The FSP influence on the slavery debate was lessened with the Compromise of 1850.

Summary: Short lived third party made up of anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats. It opposed the expansion of slavery and ran candidates for president in 1848 (MVB)and 1852 (Hale). It believed that free men on free soil was a morally and economically superior system to slavery.

Compromise of 1850Summary: The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed in the United States in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848).

5 part plan initiated by Henry Clay to settle the differences between North and South over California’s statehood.

1. California enters as a “free state”2. New Mexico and Utah decide slavery for themselves3. Slave trading in DC must stop…slavery ok4. Tougher fugitive slave law5. settled a border dispute with Texas

Compromise of 1850 (p.2)

• As in all compromises, the North was not totally in favor of all five parts. Generally, the North won on the Compromise because California entered as the 31st state upsetting the balance of power (slave vs free) in the Senate.

• The South gave up the balance of power in the Senate. In return, they received a stronger Fugitive Slave Act and “popular sovereignty” in the Utah and New Mexico territories.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

• Many northerners deeply resented the requirement that they personally aid and abet slavery. Resentment towards this act continued to heighten tensions between the North and South. Made Canada the destination for runaway slaves.

• The FSA is what made the Compromise of 1850 easier for the South to take.

SUMMARY: Part of the Compromise of 1850; the FSA required law officers, judges, and ordinary citizens to turn in suspected runaway slaves even in free territories and states. Failure to do so or give aid to runaways would result in fines/imprisonment. Suspected slaves could not ask for a trial or testify on their behalf.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

• the book elicited praise from abolitionists and moved many Northerners who were “on the fence” concerning slavery over to the abolition side. It is purported that Lincoln when meeting Mrs. Stowe exclaimed “so this is the little lady who started this great war.”

• Uncle Tom's Cabin ignited a firestorm of protest from defenders of slavery citing that the book did not accurately depict the way most slaves were treated in the South and that the author had never stepped foot on a Southern Plantation.

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly,[is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible.[It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s.

The Republican Party (1854- present)

• The Republican Party had most of their support in the northeast and upper mid-west

• Southerners viewed that Republican Party as wanting to end slavery and a dangerous threat to their economy and way of life.

SUMMARY: Born out of opposition to the Kansas – Nebraska Act, its original make-up was of anti-slavery whigs and anti-slavery democrats. The Republican Party saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil. They ran John C. Fremont in 1856 and Abraham Lincoln in 1860. “Free Labor, Free Land, Free Men” was their motto.

Bleeding Kansas (1856)

• The anti-slavery in Kansas was backed by the House of Representatives. Eventually, Kansas would become a free state on the eve of the Civil War (Jan. 1861)

• The pro-slavery (Lawrence) government was backed by Pres. Pierce and the Senate.

SUMMARY: The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) which allowed for popular sovereignty in the territory caused a flood of pro-slavery and anti-slavery people to go to Kansas. At question was whether Kansas would become a free or slave state. Each side set up their own territorial governments. Violent confrontation between the two groups was inevitable.

The Caning of Charles Sumner (1856)

• Sumner became a martyr in the North. Thousands across the North attended rallies in his support and more than a million copies of his speech were distributed. Sumner would not return to the Senate for three years and face chronic pain and debilitation for rest of his life.

• Brooks received overwhelming support by Southern newspapers and lawmakers. He was mailed hundreds of new canes. The gold head from the cane used in the attack was melted down and made into rings which southern lawmakers wore on chains around their necks.

SUMMARY: Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner (MASS) delivered a speech called “The Crime Against Kansas” in which he criticized pro-slavery forces in Kansas and repeatedly attacked the character of Andrew Butler of SC one of the K-NA co-sponsors. Two days later, Butler’s cousin, Preston Brooks a member of the House, confronted Sumner as he sat at his desk in a nearly empty Senate chamber and beat him, nearly to death, with a thick wooded cane with a gold head. This incident is seen as the breakdown of reasoned discourse over the issue of slavery and was instrumental in the rise of the Republican Party to power in the North.

Dred Scott Case (1857)

• Economic chaos in the Panic of 1857.

• Republicans and other anti-slavery groups were outraged.

• “I told you so…” this decision confirmed what the South had been saying all along.

• Democrats were pleased that the Republicans main issue- restricting slavery- had been ruled unconstitutional.

SUMMARY: Eagerly awaited Supreme Court decision. The USSC ruled that Scott was not a citizen and therefore had no standing to bring a lawsuit. The Court went further saying that slaves were property and that the 5th Amendment prohibits taking away property without “due process”. The Court also decided that ANY attempt to limit slavery was unconstitutional (GOODBYE Missouri Compromise, popular sovereignty). This decision divided the country even more and is considered by many to be the worst decision ever rendered by the USSC.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

• Although Lincoln lost the election narrowly, the Republican Party gained more national attention as did Abraham Lincoln.

• Lincoln said in the debate, the real issue is “between the men who think slavery a wrong, and those who do not think it wrong. The Republican Party thinks it wrong.” This will have a chilling effect on the South when Lincoln runs for President in 1860….and wins.

SUMMARY: These were a series of 7 debates between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln in the race for Senator of Illinois. Douglas was a well-known politician and a likely candidate for President in 1860. Lincoln was nearly unknown. Thousands came to these debates. The main issue was slavery. Douglas won narrowly won the election but Lincoln gained national attention.

John Brown’s Raid (1858)

• John Brown became a martyr for the cause against slavery.

• Some, publically, denounced his use of violence; others considered him a hero.

• Southern fears of a great Northern conspiracy against them seemed to be confirmed by Brown’s raid. To the South, Brown was a murderer who wanted to deprive them of their property.

SUMMARY: In October, abolitionist John Brown led a raid of 18 men (white and A-A) on the Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA. His goal was to capture weapons and start slave uprisings throughout the South. He was financed by Northern abolitionists. He was caught during the raid, tried and convicted of treason and hanged.

• The more populous North had out-voted the south.

• Lincoln was the first person elected President from an anti-slavery party.

Lincoln elected President (1860)

• People in the South did not trust Lincoln even though he promised not to disturb slavery where it already existed

• Out numbered in the House, the Senate and now the White House many states saw no option but to secede from the US.

SUMMARY: The US had been divided throughout the 1850’s over the expansion of slavery and the rights of slave owners. This division caused the Democrats to break into Northern and Southern factions. A new party, the Constitutional Union Party, appeared. The Republican Party, dominant in the North, secured a majority of the electoral votes, putting Abraham Lincoln in the White House with almost no support from the South.

Secession of Southern States (1860-61)

• Some abolitionists preferred to let the southern states leave.

• Most Northerners, however, believed the Union must be preserved.

• ? Did the South have the right to secede

• Lincoln has not yet taken ofice

• Secession was welcomed by most in the South

• Others were alarmed• Justified by a theory of

states rights…entered the Union voluntarily…should be allowed to leave

• What’s the next move?

SUMMARY: After Lincoln’s election in 11/1860, the South made good on its long-standing threat to secede. South Carolina was the first to leave the Union in 12/1860. By February 1861, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida also seceded. These seven states formed their own country called The Confederate States of America and chose Jefferson Davis as their president.

Fort Sumter (April 1861)

• News of the attack on a US fort galvanized the North. Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 troops to fight to save the Union.

• 4 slave holding states will remain in the Union (MD, MO, DE, KY…aka the Border States)

• The remaining slave states had to make a choice…Union or Confederacy.

• Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas decided to also secede

Summary: In his Inaugural address, Lincoln vowed to hold onto federal property and to enforce the laws of the United States. The South soon tested Lincoln’s resolve by ordering their troops to fire on Ft. Sumter in Charleston harbor that was badly in need of supplies. The opening shots of the Civil War had been fired.

There was no turning back now….the issues would be settled not by debate or compromise but by a long and bloody war.